Should you publish with an academic press or try to go bigger?
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Should you publish with an academic press or try to go bigger?

An author recently asked me this question: I now have an accepted and confirmed publishing deal based on my detailed proposal from a leading academic publisher. However, it has been suggested to me that I not take the academic deal and push to find a trade publisher with a much larger audience. Those who have…

Gen Z graduates impress; Barnes & Noble rebounds; Authors Against Book Bans: Newsletter 3 July 2024
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Gen Z graduates impress; Barnes & Noble rebounds; Authors Against Book Bans: Newsletter 3 July 2024

Newsletter 51. A tribute to the grueling journey of this year’s graduation class. Plus, ableist ChatGPT, foot traffic to bookstores improves, plus three people to follow and three books to read. Spare a thought for the college Class of 2024 About 4 million people will complete a college degree this year. This is a class…

STEM fuels thinkers; Wiley’s $23m AI windfall; Stanford stands down: Newsletter 19 June 2024
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STEM fuels thinkers; Wiley’s $23m AI windfall; Stanford stands down: Newsletter 19 June 2024

Newsletter 49. Why STEM education is about mind exercise, not job training. Plus, why AI is fair turnabout for journalists, ChatGPT is a bullshitter, and the Stanford Internet Observatory stops tracking the spread of lies. Plus, three people to follow and three books to read. Training thinkers For more than a decade, people have been…

The power of clear writing: a student truancy case study
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The power of clear writing: a student truancy case study

Can clear communication get truant students to come back to class? According to the results of a recent experiment, a clearly written letter was 40% more effective than the school district’s usual gobbledegook communication. The truancy experiment To succeed, students generally need to attend classes. Legally, a school district must inform parents of truant students…

How bad is Harvard President Claudine Gay’s alleged plagiarism?

How bad is Harvard President Claudine Gay’s alleged plagiarism?

Harvard’s president Claudine Gay has now changed some passages in work she wrote to address charges of plagiarism. Harvard’s investigation concluded, “the Fellows reviewed the results, which revealed a few instances of inadequate citation. While the analysis found no violation of Harvard’s standards for research misconduct, President Gay is proactively requesting four corrections in two…

Don’t teach writing. Teach the joy of writing.

Don’t teach writing. Teach the joy of writing.

The objective of teaching students to write is not to ensure they create content that can be graded. It is to get them to engage with language and storytelling. This is not a new story. Students learn arithmetic even though there are calculators and spreadsheets. They learn spelling even though there are spelling checkers. And…